2002 Acura RSX Type-S - Goal Oriented

A 5th grader with a vision, and the guidance to make it a reality

"It all started when I was in 5th grade," says Ethan Hamilton, owner of this 2002 RSX Type-S. "I remember it like it was yesterday. I was lying in my family's den-room floor watching television with my mom when the RSX commercial popped-up on the screen. I saw the (RSX) and instantly fell in love with it. I turned to my mom and told her that I would one day own one of these cars."

For the most part, you wouldn't think much of what a kid in 5th grade thought about his dream car because kids can be pretty fickle at that age. They want and ask for one thing and then forget about it moments later. It takes a special kind of determination for someone to have a dream in their younger years and see it to fruition years later.

"I remember my mom telling me that if I really wanted something, I'd have to set a goal for myself and keep to it. From that day on I started saving money and well, I guess you can say that I did it." Hamilton declares.

The whole thing sounds a little too fairy tale-ish, and it is, but his journey to acquiring his dream car wasn't exactly that simple. See, by age 15, Ethan had already saved-up enough for a car—it just wasn't an RSX because he didn't have quite enough yet. Instead, he settled on a 1998 Accord commuter vehicle to get around in while he continued to save for his DC5. By the time his senior year of high school rolled around, he had saved up just enough. The Accord had seen the ravages of an adolescent youth so it was time to retire it from its daily duties. Ethan then found an RSX in the exact Satin Silver Metallic finish that he wanted and had his dad give him a lift 4 hours north of Alabama to go get it. He recalls, "Once I bought the car, I had one dollar left in my savings and a dollar in my checking account! To say that I was 'broke' would have been a gross understatement."

Fortunately for Hamilton, he didn't stay broke for very long and found ways to acquire more funding for his dream build. He was still living out his days as a high school senior and spent every dime he earned on parts. Like many of us, he would sacrifice a good meal for the sake of his ride and whenever the holidays or a birthday rolled around, he just asked for money to put into the car. Soon after, Ethan found himself with a nice set of adjustable coilovers, a set of Enkei RPF1 wheels, and a complete OEM JDM ITR lip kit.

Once college rolled around, Ethan had more time to work so he could fund his automotive addiction. Every paycheck went into the car and all seemed well—that is, until he took a fateful drive with his friends that would ultimately change the entire direction of his build. "I was cruising around with some friends and my buddy Paul was begging me to get on the car to see how fast it was. Like an idiot, I downshifted to First and hammered on the gas. I went full throttle into Second gear, then tried going into Third, but missed and accidentally downshifted to First. That was pretty much the end of my K20 motor." He can laugh about it now, but for a college student on a budget, it wasn't the best scenario to be in. Hamilton's mom saw how hard he worked and how much he loved his car, so she gave him the green light to use his school credit card to fund his engine build as long as he paid it off in time.

Ethan opened up the motor to find that he had dropped three valves and ruined the cylinder head. The bottom end was still okay so he machined it to 87mm before installing a set of 11.7:1 Wiseco pistons. He then acquired a new K20A cylinder head and upgraded all of the valvetrain components to back up a set of Kelford 179-B cams. He'd taken a ride in some other cars equipped with the same cams and loved how they performed. While the motor was out of his RSX, Hamilton also took the time to cleanup his engine bay. He shaved some parts of it to give it a cleaner appearance and opted to get rid of his power steering, heat, air-conditioning, and ABS system before re-spraying the bay. Once the motor went back in, it looked like an entirely new car under the hood.

"In hindsight I can't say that I totally regret blowing my motor. Obviously, it would have been better if I had just built my motor later but things just happen. I took it as a learning experience and I'm proud to say that I built my own motor and did basically everything to the car on my own. I started out as just a high school kid with a dream and now I am a technician for a Honda dealership. The car is tuned now to 230whp and I'm getting used to making more power. I still drive my RSX all the time and I find myself falling in love with the car all over again. I have some big plans for it, including a new aero kit and all, so I'm excited for what's to come."

Though Ethan built his RSX from the ground-up entirely on his own, he credits a lot of the ideas for his built K20A2 motor to the guys from Hybrid Racing. There isn't an over-abundance of parts from the aftermarket parts manufacturer on the car but there is quite a bit of knowledge provided to Hamilton's DC5 build. He was on the phone with David at Hybrid constantly, brainstorming ideas and looking for input on what he needed. At the build's most critical point when the motor was finished and he couldn't figure out why it wouldn't run correctly, it was also the team from Hybrid that helped him figure out that he had his crank position disk on backwards. They flipped it and the motor has been smooth as butter ever since. It's great to have quality products provided, but even better when they present you with knowledge that can't be quantified on a mod list.

Check out this JDM 2002 Acura RSX Type-S fully equipped with K20 engine, Spoon Sports oil pan, gunmetal Work Emotion wheels and more! Import Tuner Magazine has all the information on this one of a kind japanese build. - Import Tuner Magazine